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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. branch — a division
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. content — the amount
  7. court — of a king
  8. race — humankind
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. court — of law
  12. degree — temperature
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — happy
  15. court — for sport
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. file — a line of people
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. race — a contest
  21. wound — an injury
  22. race — the arms race
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pass — a permit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com